You can use a number of words to describe the Academy Awards. The ceremony has attempted a number of changes over the years to try and attract more viewers – or, at least, retain the viewers that seem to be melting away year after year. So, “inconsistent” is a term that comes to mind with regards to the Oscars telecast, because the ceremony seems to chase audiences by throwing things at them that audience members may or may not want. One element that does add some stability, however, is the presence of late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, who returned to the Oscars stage for a fourth time (tying Whoopi Goldberg for hosting opportunities) and delivered a monologue that was mean, sharp, but ended on an emotional beat that we’ll likely remember for ages.
The hosting gig is another place where the Academy Awards experimented with significant change. But Jimmy Kimmel’s comfortability around Hollywood A-list talent – who stop by his late-night television show on a regular basis – that makes him an ideal host for this back-patting extravaganza. Because Kimmel seemed unfazed as he went after some of the biggest targets in the room. After noting that the show already was “five minutes over, I’m not joking,” Kimmel laid into Madame Web, made a not-so-subtle Brokeback Mountain joke aimed at Ryan Gosling, and threw in some easy jabs at awards movies being too long, specifically throwing Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon under the bus.
But Jimmy Kimmel seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time on Robert Downey Jr., who is nominated for his role in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Kimmel tends to have a running feud with Matt Damon, but fired his biggest shots at Downey, who didn’t appear too thrilled with the negative attention. The ribbing began with drug jokes, and Downey being at a “high point” in his career. Initially , RDJ played along by pointing at his nose. But the longer Kimmel stayed on the joke, the more annoyed Downey appeared. And things reached their most awkward when Kimmel asked Downey:
Is that an acceptance speech in your pocket, or do you just have a rectangular penis?
Downey didn’t know what to do with that one – to be fair, who would? – so he glared at the host, as if he was a junketeer asking the actor personal questions. No matter what happened after that moment, Kimmel had two strikes, as far as RDJ was concerned.